Defense and running game win titles?

[finresurrection]

Seems a lot of folks believe in this theory. Sounds legit but think back 2 years. We had a top "D". We had Ricky running for 1,800. where's the championship?

Seems to me there was one thing missing in this theory: Defenses that SCORE and a running game win championships. as evidenced by Baltimore.

Our "D" has been solid for years but we never seem to take the turnovers to the house.

It is my opinion that if at all possible trade down. Yes I know everyone is clamoring for that to happen so we can grab a top 3 RB still and gather extra picks. I would rather see us grab LB Merriman or LB Johnson early rd 1 and S Thomas Davis late rd 1 (based on trades). DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKERS.

grab an RB in 2 or 3 (Fason, Morency, Shelton, Arrington), QB in 2 or 3 (Campbell, Greene, McPherson), then depth in the later rds.

We have a good nucleus that just needs some explosiveness on "D". The guys are out there. let's go get them.

 

[arsenal]

listen its pretty obvious you need everything to win, you need first and foremost GOOD COACHING... i think thats what everyone forgets, and you need good players on both sides of the ball... thats how you win, you dont plan on winning without this piece or that piece, you need EVERYTHING...

lets get off the whats more important **** and just try to fix up our team as a whole...

 

[BlueFin]

Seems a lot of folks believe in this theory. Sounds legit but think back 2 years. We had a top "D". We had Ricky running for 1,800. where's the championship?

Seems to me there was one thing missing in this theory: Defenses that SCORE and a running game win championships. as evidenced by Baltimore.

Our "D" has been solid for years but we never seem to take the turnovers to the house.

It is my opinion that if at all possible trade down. Yes I know everyone is clamoring for that to happen so we can grab a top 3 RB still and gather extra picks. I would rather see us grab LB Merriman or LB Johnson early rd 1 and S Thomas Davis late rd 1 (based on trades). DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKERS.

grab an RB in 2 or 3 (Fason, Morency, Shelton, Arrington), QB in 2 or 3 (Campbell, Greene, McPherson), then depth in the later rds.

We have a good nucleus that just needs some explosiveness on "D". The guys are out there. let's go get them.

What was the final scores of the last two Superbowls? You have to be able to make plays in the passing game to score enough to win now, especially with the way they are enforcing pass interference.

 

[NJFINSFAN1]

Pat's won the first two without a top flight RB!

 

[cowtowndick]

What was the final scores of the last two Superbowls? You have to be able to make plays in the passing game to score enough to win now, especially with the way they are enforcing pass interference.

Agreed - you need to be able to run, of course, but if you can't strike quickly downfield, then defenses will load up to stop the run. That's what happened when we had Ricky. The offense needs the injection of talented playmakers more urgently than the defense, IMO. With the top three draft picks we have this year, we need our version of the triplets - a RB, a WR and a QB. The order is determined by the BPA at the time. Again, IMO.

 

[Agent51]

Pat's won the first two without a top flight RB!

Also without a 1st round "franchise" pick QB. I KNOW Brady is rare, so rare (and I hate him so much) that I hate to reference his case, but still........the argument could sway either way. It can go for the pro-Smith guys by saying "look at the pats" cuz before dillon they won with no RB, and it can go for the pro "big 3 back" guys by saying "look at the pats" cuz Tom Brady was a 6th round pick and is a top 3 QB in the NFL, prolly second 2 peyton, but unchallenged post season-wise.

 

[arsenal]

Pat's won the first two without a top flight RB!

actually in 2001 the pats were the 13th ranked rushing team and the 21st ranked passing team...

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe2001.htm

point is you need a little of everything people, you can find examples for teams with no running game, no passing game, no defense (well maybe not that one) but it doesn't matter nowadays you need a balanced team that can be a threat running, passing and making plays/scoring on defense...

 

[cowtowndick]

actually in 2001 the pats were the 13th ranked rushing team and the 21st ranked passing team...

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe2001.htm

point is you need a little of everything people, you can find examples for teams with no running game, no passing game, no defense (well maybe not that one) but it doesn't matter nowadays you need a balanced team that can be a threat running, passing and making plays/scoring on defense...

Well said.

 

[UltraDol-Fan]

Honestly I believe we could have won it all the year we had Ricky run for 1800 yards if we had better special teams.

 

[Timmy54]

If you want a defensive playmaker, what about Rolle who should be there at #5 if we trade with TB. He is the D playmaker in the draft. I dont think we will take him or need to go that way, but he will be a Ed Reed kind of player.

 

[NJFINSFAN1]

actually in 2001 the pats were the 13th ranked rushing team and the 21st ranked passing team...

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe2001.htm

point is you need a little of everything people, you can find examples for teams with no running game, no passing game, no defense (well maybe not that one) but it doesn't matter nowadays you need a balanced team that can be a threat running, passing and making plays/scoring on defense...

13th is middle of the road, not a top flight rushing team!

 

[Marino Forever]

13th is middle of the road, not a top flight rushing team!

But without the run being above average and better than their passing game, the Pats would not have won the super bowl. I am a former hs qb so it is difficult for me to admit, but a solid running game (not running back necessarily) is vital to winning championships. Along with it you need to stretch the field vertically which we did not have the year Ricky went over 1800 yards. Look at teams like Pittsburgh and SD last year. Do you really think Roethlisberger and Brees would have performed that way with our OL play?

 

[Gladsadmad]

Good coaching and a special QB....you can win a Superbowl if you have a servicable QB and are great in most other areas, but you can't be consistently in the running for a title year in and year out if you don't have a very good QB.

 

[arsenal]

but 21st is not even the middle of the road, so its not like they were a top flight passing team was what i meant to say...

but its pointless, you can argue either way, every position is important, every piece is needed, focus on getting them all, not just 1...

 

[thedayafter]

Well... on offense you need something you do really well... balance helps, playmakers help... on defense it's all about points allowed..... and you have to have pro's that understand what it takes to win....